Credit Sesame

Credit Karma

I also use a paid service to give me the most accurate results. I pay for MyFICO. It costs $4.95 a month and gives you a FICO score every 3 months.

Credit score monitoring is an important resource for any travel miles junkie who uses credit cards as a strategy to get free travel.

The reason is simple.

Your credit score is the single most important factor in determining the number of credit cards you’ll be able to apply for and be approved for.

In other words, your credit score is valuable.

Every time you apply for a new card, you need to evaluate the potential rewards vs. the potential cost (in the form of a lower credit score).

What you get must be worth more than what you lose

In order to determine if it is worth it, you need to first know the value of the sign up bonus. That’s easy to know since every promotion indicates what you get for signing up. Then you’ll need to know how much another credit card application will impact your credit score.

That’s why you need to monitor your score. Instead of accepting people’s assumptions or something they heard from a neighbor, you can know exactly how your credit score is impacted by a new application. I’ve found it to be a 2-3 point drop per new application.

Disclaimer: This content is not provided or commissioned by the company whose products are featured on this site. Any opinions, analyses, reviews or evaluations provided here are those of the author's alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the Advertiser. This site may be compensated through the Advertiser's affiliate programs